several kindred trades to that of Shipwright.
The "caulker",who
with hemp and pitch, made the seams of carvel-built strips watertight. His
assistant was the "oakum
boy", who brought the pitch in liquid form from a boiler, supplying a number of caulkers. The "ropemaker",
who from the combed hemp made up lengths of yarn by overlaying, and this in
turn layed into the required lengths of rope in the
ropewalks, which

were often out of doors. The person who
combed the hemp was known as the "hatchelman".
The "sailmaker" made the sails from
sailcloth supplied by contractors. The "colormaker"
made up flags and ensigns from dyed cloth. The "rigger" measured the rope for splicing
and made it up for standing and running rigging. Standing rigging is that which
remains static, while running rigging is adjustable and secures sails, booms,
etc. The "blockmaker" made the blocks and
tackles for adjusting rigging and sails. The "nail smith" made nails,
etc. for the use of shipwrights. The "blacksmith" forged anchors and
iron fittings and from about 1810 made chain cable. He also made bolts and
nuts. The "plugmaker" made the plugs which
were driven into the countenbored holes where bolts
were fitted. Caulkers fitted the plugs. The "jovfler"
made the furniture and higher grade of woodwork. The "sawyers" used a two handled
saw in a pit to cut large peices of wood. The top
sawyer followed
the shape of the timbers required, while the bottom sawyer was the junior man and
supplied the upward thrust. The "painter" was responsible for the
decoration and preservation of the hull. The "woodcarver" made
figureheads and other ornate carvings. The "mastmaker"
made masts and spars. He was usually a shipwright employed on this specialist work. The
"scavelman" dug the docks in the early days and sealed
the ends of the timber. A scavel was a heart shaped
long-handled shovel.

The term Shipwright covered all
aspects of the trade, from that of Master Shipwright, the supervisors, to the craftman themselves. The designers were also referred to as
shipwrights, as were boat builders. In the royal dockyards, shipwright was the major
trade. Whatever rank was

held, the man started his career as an
apprentice. The highest rank in the days of wooden ships was Surveyor of the
Navy, followed by Master Shipwright, Assistant Master Shipwright, Senior Foreman
of the Yard, Foreman of the Yard, Leading Man of Shipwrights, Quarterman of Shipwrights, and Shipwrights 1st, 2nd and 3rd
Class.

The duties according to rank were design, selection of timber in the
forest for knees ,futtocks ,frames and planks .

Mast timber was imported from the Baltic countries and later from the
American colonies, and from 1776
from The duties according to rank were design, selection
of timber in the the Baltic countries once
again. Resin, oils and tar were imported from
the same sources, mostly in exchange for manufactured goods and wool. Duties
according to grade were: responsibility for manufacture of the keel, cutting of
frames and knees, fitting in place, bolting up, fitting of the mast on
the keelson, arrangement of decks, planking in, and when the ship was finally afloat, fitting out and sand
ballasting to maintain trim. The caulkers would be involved at all stages. The
riggers, sailmakers, painters and joiners would do preparatory work, but would
be mainly involved in fitting out.
Shipwrights also attended contractors works and at private shipyards where warships were built to inspect
the construction step by step.
Shipwrights also docked and undocked ships.

Shipwrights were resistant to change. When materials changed from wood
to iron and later to steel, the Thames
and Medway shipwrights held out. As steam had already been introduced into
wooden ships and engine and boilerworks had come into
being alongside shipyards, the change to iron shipbuilding was embraced by the
boilermakers trade, whose techniques were those required. These included: frame
bending, plating, plate smithing, hot rivetirfg and iron caulking. So, in private industry, from
the time of the building of the first iron ships until the present,
shipbuilding has been in the hands of boilermakers.

The Master Shipwrights of the royal
dockyards, however, were not so resistant to change as their lesser brethern, and became the foremost ship designers in both
the royal yards and the private yards for iron vessels. The first attempt at
iron shipbuilding in a royal dockyard was in 1863, when H.M.S. Achilles
was begun. Following the lead of the private yards, boliermakers were engaged to do the work.